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Metallica (album)
Metallica, informally known as The Black Album, is the fifth album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released August 13, 1991 through Elektra Records. The album features songs that are considered today as Metallica's most well-known tracks, with songs such as "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam" and "Sad but True". It spent four consecutive weeks at number one on Billboard 200. Metallica is the band's best-selling album to date, with over 15 million copies sold in the United States and over 22 million copies worldwide. It is the best-selling album of the SoundScan era. Metallica DVD-Audio 5.1 mix was released in 2004 through Elektra Records. The album cover features only the band's logo, angled against the upper left corner, and a coiled snake (derived from the Gadsden flag) on the bottom right corner, both in a dark shade of gray in order to be made out against the black background. The motto of the Gadsden flag, "Don't Tread on Me", is also the title of a song featured on the album. The cover is very reminiscent of Spinal Tap's Smell the Glove album, something the band jokingly acknowledged themselves in their A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica documentary (where members of Spinal Tap appeared and asked them about it). The album was certified 15x Platinum (Diamond) by the RIAA on November 13, 2009 History The album and the band were critically praised and commercially successful. Gone for the most part were faster staccato riffs during verses and throaty vocals found on the band's first four albums; the overall speed and complexity of the music was somewhat lessened. The Black Album presented a more radio-friendly, commercially accessible Metallica, especially evidenced by the ballad "Nothing Else Matters". Moreover, following the success of "One," the breakaway single from their …And Justice for All Album, five videos were released from The Black Album. ("Enter Sandman", "Nothing Else Matters", "Sad but True", "Wherever I May Roam" and "The Unforgiven"). The lyrics of The Black Album, written by James Hetfield, were much more personal and introspective in nature than previous Metallica albums.needed For example, "The God That Failed" dealt with Hetfield's mother's death from cancer and her Christian Science beliefs which kept her from seeking medical treatment. Another example is "Nothing Else Matters", which expresses the connection Hetfield felt with his girlfriend while out on the road. The album ended Metallica's tradition of including a lengthy instrumental track on each album until their 2008 album Death Magnetic. Tracklist #Enter Sandman (James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett) - 5:29 #Sad But True (Hetfield, Ulrich) - 5:24 #Holier Than Thou (Hetfield, Ulrich) - 3:47 #The Unforgiven (Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett) - 6:26 #Wherever I May Roam (Hetfield, Ulrich) - 6:42 #Don't Tread On Me (Hetfield, Ulrich) - 4:01 #Through The Never (Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett) - 4:01 #Nothing Else Matters(Hetfield, Ulrich) - 6:29 #Of Wolf And Man (Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett) - 4:16 #The God That Failed (Hetfield, Ulrich) - 5:05 #My Friend Of Misery (Hetfield, Ulrich, Jason Newsted) - 6:47 #The Struggle Within (Hetfield, Ulrich) - 3:51 Personal *James Hetfield - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals *Lars Ulrich - Drums *Kirk Hammett - Lead Guitar *Jason Newsted - Bass *Produced by Bob Rock with Hetfield and Ulrich *Recorded by Randy Staub, assisted by Mike Tacci at One On One Recording, Los Angeles, October '90-June '91 *Orcestration on "Nothing Else Matters" arranged by Michael Kamen. Lyrics *The God That Failed *Sad But True *The Unforgiven *Nothing Else Matters *My Friend of Misery Category:Albums